If you’ve taken the plunge and installed iOS 15 , we’re here with iOS 15 tips and tricks to help you get the most from your iPhone.
iOS 15 is filled with new features and changes we’ve been asking for the past couple of years. If you are worried you have missed some cool iOS 15 tips and tricks, fret not, I have compiled a list of all the best iOS 15 tips and tricks you should try first.
iOS 15 Tips and Tricks
Here’s a list of the best iOS 15 tips and tricks:
1. Make a FaceTime call to Android and Windows users
Earlier, FaceTime was only available on iOS devices like iPhone, iPad or iPod. Now Apple’s FaceTime supports android devices and advanced PCs. Android and Windows users can now join FaceTime calls via a web app.
Before you can chat with someone using Windows or Android, you need to make a link for them to join.
- Start the FaceTime app on your iPhone
- Tap Create Link
The share sheet will open. You can tap Copy to copy the link and paste it wherever you like, or choose an app or person to share it with. - When you’re done, you’ll see the FaceTime Link call in the main history list under “Upcoming” calls.
- The call hasn’t started yet, and it won’t until you tap that upcoming “FaceTime Link” call and then tap “Join” in the upper right.
Tap the info button (i) on the call if you need to share the link again or if you want to delete it. The link should remain active until it’s manually removed, so you can add it to a calendar event a month away or schedule a FaceTime call for next year’s Mother’s Day.
Other feature additions to FaceTime include the option to blur your background with ‘portrait mode’, voice isolation mode, wide spectrum mode. Much like Zoom, Facetime now also allows you to schedule calls so that people can join in at the right time.
See also: The best 5 iOS 15 features you need to know about
2. SharePlay – Watch movies or listen to songs together when on a Facetime call
SharePlay. It’s a new software feature on top of FaceTime that allows you to watch and listen to movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, and more with friends and family while video chatting.
To use SharePlay on an iPhone:
- First, make sure that everyone on the call is using iOS 15 and iPadOS 15.
- Next, start a FaceTime call — either one-on-one or a group call — with everyone you want to watch or listen with.
- Once you’ve done that, exit out of the FaceTime call (which will automatically move to a picture-in-picture window) and head over to a SharePlay-compatible app.
- After that, playing something over SharePlay is as simple as it is when you’re just watching or listening alone: just select whatever content you want, and it’ll play for everyone.
- Controlling a SharePlay stream just requires that you play, pause, and skip around as you usually would. SharePlay automatically keeps everyone’s streams in sync so that if one person pauses to get a snack, the movie will pause for everyone.
- You have two options for ending a stream: either end it for everyone on the SharePlay call or end it just for you (letting everyone else continue to watch.
See also: All the ways Siri is changing in iOS 15
3. Avoid distractions, use Focus Mode
At its core, a Focus mode is a more customizable version of Apple’s existing Do Not Disturb and is accessed from the same menu on iOS. But Focus modes are far more customizable, allowing for more granular triggers for when you’re filtering out notifications.
To set up a Focus, go to “Settings” > “Focus” and hit the plus button to add a new Focus. You’ll also be able to see existing Focus modes that you’ve set up and edit them.
Apple offers a variety of preset Focus modes to start with, including Personal, Work, Fitness, Gaming, Reading, and more. You’re not limited to Apple’s preset suggestions, though some of the presets — like the Driving, Fitness, or Gaming ones — offer additional features and triggers that aren’t available to user-created ones. Apple’s Fitness Focus mode, for example, can be automatically triggered when you start a Fitness Plus workout on your Apple Watch, while the Gaming mode can turn on whenever you connect a Bluetooth controller.
You can create a custom Focus by selecting Custom, which will let you select a name, icon, and color for that specific focus.
4. Save your time by setting Notification Summary
It’s a love-hate relationship between users and Apple’s notification implementation. With iOS 15, Notifications Summary would club all the less-useful notifications and present them in a big clump of notification blocks. You can schedule the timing or receive the summary every morning or evening. The summary would learn from your behavior and update the apps that require instant attention and push back others that are not that attention-worthy.
The idea is to prioritize important notifications as a separate class and all the other junk can be put in one summary tab.
5. Apple Maps
Apple Maps have come a long way since its inception (both figuratively and literally). The all-new design would present the cities in a detailed 3D rendered landscape with intuitive tools such as immersive walking directions, new driving features, and an option to choose a preferred method of commute.
Starting with a few cities these updated features would gradually roll out to other cities and states but right now it’s only a handful of large cities in the US such as San Francisco, New York, LA, etc.
6. Private Relay | VPN
Private Relay is a completely new feature that acts as a VPN (sort of) for all intents and purposes but you don’t get to choose a remote server. It works in Safari and encrypts all outgoing requests made by the browser which go through two servers. It aims to increase privacy and anonymity on the internet. Once activated, you would be able to access all blocked sites that have been disabled by your ISP. Plus, it would prevent trackers and websites from gathering data about you.
This feature comes bundled with iCloud+ so if you’ve purchased iCloud storage or have an Apple One subscription then Private Relay would be already active for you. You can check the status by navigating to Settings> Apple ID> iCloud> Private Relay> Turn ON.
7. Safari | It’s Got Extensions
Safari browser on the iPhone gets a decent amount of spec bump with iOS 15 but the most important one is the addition of Safari Extensions. Desktop browser users would know that there are plenty of Chrome and Safari extensions that enhance the browser functionality. Now, you would be able to install extensions on Safari on iPhone as well. It would allow you to unlock features such as ad-blocking, PIP for YouTube (without the premium), and so many other things.
Other than that, Safari would now automatically upgrade HTTP requests to HTTPS, customize the start page, streamline the tab bar, and offer intelligent tracking protection.
8. Live Text | Copy Text from Photos
One of the most intuitive features of the iPhone has been the ability to recognize QR codes from the Camera app without needing any third-party apps. Building on that, iPhone Camera would now seamlessly detect written text from the viewfinder and let you instantly copy and paste it anywhere in the iPhone.
This feature would only work with iPhones running on A12 or above. This means iPhone X and older would not support this functionality. Not just that, it would also work in the Photos app, Safari browser, etc. The best part is the intuitiveness, it feels like you’re selecting a normal text when actually it’s a photo. Along with that, you would be able to detect objects in a photo such as flowers, books, mountains, etc. It’s going to tremendously help in searching for that image you took three years ago.
9. Health | Track your Entire Family’s Health
Apple already takes pride in offering a cohesive ecosystem that benefits from every Apple device. The Health app now offers the option to share your health data with your family which means you can track the elderly and their health if they choose to share the data with you. The health app can now track walking steadiness, blood glucose, lab test results, and covid immunization results.
10. Manage Your App Accounts
iOS has this feature where you can use Apple’s randomly generated email id to create an account in an app. This allowed you to create an account within an app without giving away your actual email. With iOS 15, you can now manage those randomly generated accounts and remove them if you want. This feature has an added benefit that prevents those apps from sending spam or contacting you on your real email id.
You can find it under Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Hide my email.
11. Offline Siri
Up until iOS 14, Siri required an active internet connection to perform even the simplest of tasks such as opening an app, setting a timer, or turning on Bluetooth. However, now Siri has been equipped with advanced ML that would process most commands offline. What’s even better is that all the conversations with Siri would stay on the iPhone giving you peace and privacy.
12. Digital Legacy
You can appoint a nominee within iPhone and they can claim access to your phone data if you die. This makes sense and it’s the right step for people who die in an accident leaving behind a locked iPhone that can not be unlocked. Now, you can pass on your digital legacy efficiently.
13. Background Sounds
The iPhone now comes equipped with a noise generator that would allow you to play a balanced background noise such as white or black noise at all times. You can adjust how loud the volume of the noise should be when idle and when the media is playing. The sounds include balanced noise, bright noise, dark noise, ocean, rain, and stream. However, if this feature feels limiting then there are other methods to generate white noise as well.
Navigate to Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Background Sounds.
14. Tags in Notes
I use Notes all the time but even I acknowledge the limitations of the app when compared with competitors like Google Keep. With tags coming to Notes on iOS 15, it would become so much easier to search for specific notes such as recipes, directions, or secret keyphrases by searching for hashtags.
Simply add #tag_name in a note and it would appear on the main Notes Screen. You can then tap the tag to search all the notes containing the tag.
15. Cross-App Drag and Drop
This is going to be a powerful iOS 15 feature if implemented effectively. With iOS 15, you can drag and drop files, photos, and text from one app to another. Simply touch and hold the file or text you’re trying to copy and as the pop-up menu shows up, drag the file upwards to enable drag mode. Now, use your second finger to swipe and move to another app and simply drop the file there. It’s really easy.
16. Digital Keys
The latest iOS would bring the ability to store digital keys on your iPhone. Adding to the portfolio, you would be able to add your home keys, car keys, hotel key, office key, boarding passes, etc. The keys would need to be compatible with Apple hardware and software so it might take a while for them to become popular around the globe.
Your Favorite iOS 15 Tips and Tricks
So these were some of the best iOS 15 tips and tricks you would love to try on your iPhone today. My favorite iOS 15 tips and tricks include Focus,, FaceTime Links and Live Text. There’s surely plenty more hidden iOS 15 tips and tricks to discover, so I’ll keep tapping, swiping and noting anything I find. Apart from these iOS 15 tips and tricks, GeeksModo has compiled a list of 30+ Best iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro Tips and Tricks so be sure to check out that article as well to learn more about your iPhone. Did we miss out on something important that needs to be added to the list? Which is your favorite iOS 15 tips and tricks? Let me know in the comments section below.
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